The Queen's Palace

Anger. Boredom. Those were the feelings the Queen were consumed by, and it wasn’t a good thing. Even the palace was aware and all the servants were on edge, each one of them moving quickly to please her desires. And to avoid any more trouble, many of them tried their best to stay clear of her chambers, praying to the gods that the Queen may not need anything. However despite this all this, one was not so lucky.
“... You are being summoned.” A guard sympathetically commanded a feeble maid, who almost appeared to burst into tears. “A-Alright.” Dropping her broom, the maid hastily made her way down the grand halls, to the largest room of all- Beatrice’s Chambers.
She stared at the door. ‘Was it always so big..’ She thought, watching the dark brown wood grow larger as her heart raced faster.
A shiver ran down her spine, but she dared not to show any fear.. The queen may eat her alive! Or so the fellow maid’s say.So slowly, she took a deep breath, before lifting her hand to knock- “Come in.” The maid jumped at the deep, yet beautiful voice many feared.
Pushing through the heavy doors, she curtsied, lowering her head as far as she could go without looking like a fool. “Highness…?” Her lower lips quivered. Was she going to die?!

As the little woman shook,The Queen looked down at her and almost sneered in amusement. ‘Like a mouse..’ She thought, noticing her obvious shiver. “Oh, don’t be so scared.” Beatrice said, her voice taking on a sweet tone. “I’m not as scary as people say.” A lie. However with the gentle smile, and the tiny gleam of her blue eyes, it was hard to say. Standing off her throne, she stepped near the maid, before motioning her to stand straight. The servant complied with ease. “..I-I apologize, Your highness.”

The smell of fear widened Beatrice’s smile- she resisted a lick of her lips, “Its alright..” She waved it off, “Anyways I summoned you to ask you a question.” The maid blinked, taking a step back in surprise. “A q-question..?”

Beatrice gracefully neared her large windows, before pulling the drapes on them slightly apart, for only her to look through. From her view, she saw the mountains which held voreia and the tiny peaks of Occiden’s castle- she grinned to herself. A sinister sparkle entered her eyes, but the maid was oblivious since she saw only the royal’s back. “Yes just a simple question.." Taking a moment of pause, she looked over her shoulder, hiding her ominous intent. "Whats the best way to gather people.. royals that is..?" The little woman blinked, before replying hesitantly, "A-A ball?"

The Queen looked away, "Correct~ A ball.." A smirk pulled at her lips, "Now go, but I need one more thing.. Call upon Emilia and the princess?" She hid her smirk under a gentle smile, and the maid blushed- "Of course!" Bowing, she scurried off, leaving the queen alone. 'She.. isnt that bad.' The maid thought, smiling.

Oh how wrong she was. As the door closed, an insidious laugh emerged from the highness' lips. She dropped the guise, and her once sweet eyes went evil. Those fools of Voreia and Occiden shall perish! She trailed her fingers over the window, before tightening her hands as if she was crushing the two kingdoms. Everything will be hers. It must be, Beatrice didn't go through all the trouble for nothing.

"Beatrice.. what.. what are you doing?" A voice whispered, as reluctant steps were made- back against the tower's railing. "Good bye.. Sister."

"Why have you framed me, you know I did nothing wrong-" A sudden pause of realization. "I-It was you! It was you! Why!-"

An uncertain emotion flickered within her eyes, however it was gone before it was replaced by a knowing look. All of her troubles will pay off. They will.
Sitting herself down behind her desk, she picked up a pen.

"To the kingdoms of.." She whispered as she waited for the arrival of her servant and "daughter". She had a ball to host.

Queen's Chamber - Castle of Anatoli

Folding laundry, sweeping the halls, polishing the tea sets, keeping an eye of the guillotine looming over your head. Ready to drop at a moment's notice. 'Tis the life of a maid or servant, or at least, a servant to Queen Beatrice. Most of the servants were trying their best to prepare the queen's every whim, weather it's just simple cleaning, or helping the queen get her garnets on, or running out into the world to find a specific colour flower with a certain number of petals, and with a certain colour of thorns. All at the cost of failure, is equivalent to said guillotine rocketing down taking off your head, ending up falling from whatever tower you presently are in, or being target practice for the Queen's Archers, spearmen, and what have you. Topping it off, the pay sucks, no vacation time, no sick days per say, and no benefits.

Even though most of the maids and all are rather scared, no, terrified, of Beatrice and her antics, there is still one whom stands out from them. Emilia Kinadred, known well in the castle for her somewhat bravery, as in, Emilia isn't afraid of the queen. Not one bit, but, where she came from is somewhat of a mystery, Emilia only claims to have been travelling for as far as she remembers. Yet, the maids and others look up to her, though as she was working on stitching up something that another maid accidentally ripped, a mouse-like maid, whom seemed scared beyond all sort of the word fear, had approached her,

"E-Emilia, Her H-h-highness is requesting you..." she said, still sounding scared, Emilia rose, smiling as she patted the maid's head with her much taller stature,

"There, there, I'll be there in a quick second. First I wish to finish this." Emilia was a soothing presence to the scared maids, but then again, she wouldn't let Beatrice slay them without her say. It got them nowhere a lot, but it was worth the try to spare them. After quickly, and accurately finishing her work, Emilia rose, brushing off her dress a little and straightening it. Proceeding was the real fun, noticing the princess she bowed and greeted her,

"Good morning, your highness." she said before walking to the Queen's chamber, knocking, and entering with a rather stern, but calm phrase,

"you called, Majesty?" she asked bowing in respect, but not sounding at all scared, but more announcing her presence. Emilia didn't exactly know fear when it came to the Queen's bluffs and actions.

"Janittey, dear, would you mind fetching me the jars of pig's feet, sheep wool, and horse hair, please?"

A young girl of only twelve years, Janittey was child-like only in appearance. Her personality, however out-matured those beyond her years - hence why she had begun such serious training at such a young age. A sorceress-in-training, she had been taken in by Celestial when she was only six years old. The elder woman had found her wandering in the forest near her home, her memory completely gone, with only her ability to communicate with nature guiding and protecting her. She had been lucky to have been discovered by Celestial when she was, for surely the girl would have ended up as wolf food not too long after.

Due to their similarities in abilities, the Magister had deemed her a worthy apprentice, and as soon as she turned eight, she began to train her. It began with smaller spells - growing plants and flowers for herbal and medicinal uses, or calming animals when they were skittish and nervous - but the girl had progressed so impressively that she was already learning not only defensive potions, but also offensive potions. Her main focus, however, remained on nature and animals, due to both her love for it and Celestial's refusal to over-teach her on things that could corrupt a young mind, despite its maturity.

Janittey nodded eagerly, turning and scampering off to a nearby shelving unit. Their room was stationed on the main floor, yet near the back of the palace for safety purposes. It was one of the largest rooms in the castle - it had not been claimed for anything before Celestial's arrival only for the fact that it would become immensely drafty in the winter-time. However, she had no problems with that, seeing as she used her magic to warm the large, stone room.

The girl returned, holding out three jars to her mentor. Celestial accepted and opened them, dropping one product of each into the large mixing bowl. A puff of smoke flew up, before the fog inside of the bowl settled. Celestial turned her spoon in it a few more times, before removing and setting it aside.

"Alright, so what potion did I just create, Janittey?"

The girl pursed her lips and scrunched her nose, a face she often made when she over thought anything.

After a few moments, she spoke hesitantly. "Um ... From the ingredients, I want to say that it was one of your potions that you made to use as a joke against anyone who made you angry. So I want to say that it was the Hair Removal potion, applicable to any part of the body. Once applied, the hair on that section burns off, never to grow back?"

Celestial clapped her hands, smiling as she did so. "Correct, my dear. And why is this potion one that is not often allowed for creation?"

Janittey paused briefly, before beginning slowly. "Because it is wrong to harm others, no matter what they've done to you. Magic and Potions are for good, not evil. If you are being forced to do something that you know is wrong, atone for it later - because your safety is a number one priority. Right?"

Smiling, Celestial dropped her hand onto the girl's head, leaning over to be at her height. "Very good, my Ittey-Bittey Apprentice you!" Janittey beamed at the praise. "Now, lessons are over for today. Run along and play with the children of the staff - I'm sure they're waiting for you outside the palace." The girl nodded and eagerly bounded off, her black ponytail bouncing as she did so.

Turning back to her work bench, Celestial quickly discarded the potion. Plucking up her spell book, it immediately zipped down to the side of a silver dollar, and she slipped a chain through a hoop at the top of it. Dropping the chain around her neck, she tucked the book beneath her top.

Seeing as the Queen had yet to request anything special from her, and she had already finished her ordinary duties around the palace, her schedule was relatively free at the moment - a rare occurrence for someone of her abilities and title. Honestly, she wasn't sure what to do with the free time she had been granted.

Shrugging, she adjusted her dress before turning and striding from the room.

Only to bump point-blank into none other than the Queen's Protector himself, Nginnam. Catching herself on the wall, she finished shutting the door, pulling the large gold key that adorned the same chain as her spell book, and turned it in the lock before returning it beneath her clothing. Turning back to Nginnam, she bowed her head at him.

"I apologize for bumping into you. I hadn't a clue that you were out here," she said, tilting her head back to see his hidden face. "Speaking of which, what are you doing in this wing of the palace? It's rare that I see anyone here at all, let alone you. Aren't you supposed to be with the Queen?" she asked, tilting her head to the side, her curiosity evident. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she went on her toes. "Do you have any food by chance? Bread? Mutton? Anything? I'm positively famished!" she exclaimed.